International Search Marketing: Why Do Most People Get It Wrong?

International search marketing – what makes it so difficult to break into the global market?

While international search marketing increases your business website's visibility on search engines, a lot of people still believe that it is nothing more but a definite time-waster. However, many online business owners and marketers can prove that they get great results from their efforts. International search marketing allows you to maximize your business's reach, brand awareness and grow your revenue potential.

What accounts for the difference in opinion between online business owners regarding this matter? Why do most online marketers get it wrong? Here are several reasons why most people don't get international search marketing right despite their best efforts.

The Unique Challenges of International Search Marketing

Failure to identify the real needs in target countries. Will your product provide the best solution for your target customers' needs? If it does, do you know how you can communicate the benefits they can get from it? This can be a great challenge, especially if you haven't personally been in their shoes. Don't assume that your target customers need and want the same things as your American consumers may do, as they live in a completely different culture and have different experiences altogether.

Some people get lost in the translation. The fact that translations often lack accuracy makes it doubly hard to get great results from international search marketing. Most translators often miss the majority of the search terms being used in their target countries due to misspellings, missing accents and broken compounds. Often there are terms that simply cannot be translated into another language, which may become a unique challenge you have to face should you decide to pursue this endeavor.

Colors and images may have different meanings to other countries. While you may like the way your business website looks, people from other countries may have a different opinion altogether. For all you know, different colors may have different meanings in the countries you are targeting. The same goes for the images used on your website. Cultural nuances are a powerful force so your website needs to be relevant to make the most from your efforts.

Finding reliable partners. More than just finding someone who can competently help you with the task at hand, you need to find someone who doesn't work with the competition. This makes outsourcing to local experts even more difficult.

Currency can be a great issue. Despite what other people may think, currency amounts and variations do matter – a lot. For some people, it may look as if you are offering your products at a lower price in one currency while charging a premium amount for others, even when it is simply not the case.

You need to overcome the technical challenge. If you want to enjoy great success in international search marketing, you need to find the right domain and hosting for the countries that are most important to you. However, please bear in mind that not all countries will allow you to get one if you don't operate a physical storefront inside their country.

With all of these hurdles, you can say that international search marketing will test you to your limits. However, no one can deny the fact that the rewards are well worth all the troubles so gear up and get ready to give it your best.